


Exhaustion and the Cat Dreams

by eclipsingbinary



Category: Black Clover - Tabata Yuki (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Dreams and Nightmares, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:00:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27401614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eclipsingbinary/pseuds/eclipsingbinary
Summary: After the battle with the elves it's all beginning to catch up with Finral (has he mentioned that he woke the first Wizard King?).  Good job his team's got his back.He's got theirs too.
Relationships: Finral Roulacase & Luck Voltia, Finral Roulacase & Magna Swing, Vanessa Enoteca & Finral Roulacase
Comments: 18
Kudos: 82





	Exhaustion and the Cat Dreams

It turns out that if you are woken from a prolonged period of unconsciousness, escape the recovery mages in the infirmary, fight your possessed little brother, escape from another set of recovery mages, portal across the whole country, wake the first Wizard King, then fall out of the sky, you might make some people worried. 

Owen for example. You’d think that the country’s best recovery mage would have other things to think about, what with parts of the city being destroyed and major casualties everywhere. Also, if rumour is to be believed, he had been an elf. So, you’d think he would be a little busy. But no, it seems he’s out to get Finral. This seems unfair. 

Finral guesses that Vanessa is to blame. She finds him in the rubble of the Capital and wraps him in a tight hug. He winces, and he knows that was a mistake when she releases him and holds him at arm's length for inspection. The blood on his uniform makes her frown and something about his face makes her furious. She pinches the back of his hand, then glares into his eyes with an intensity that makes him step back. Of course, he wobbles when he does so. She grabs him with more force than seems necessary. So, more bruises.

“Talk,” she demands.

He tells her about Langris, Yami and Jack. She does not interrupt, but she gets angrier. Her expression softens a little when he explains that Nero spoke, turned into a girl, spoke some more, then got him to reawaken the first Wizard King. 

“I am not making that up,” he huffs when he realises that she thinks he’s suffering from hallucinations.

Finral isn’t surprised she doesn’t believe him though. He’s not quite sure he believes it himself. They will have to wait until Nero-the-girl returns to convince them both. In the meantime, Vanessa seems to decide that she’s going to treat him as if he is a little unsteady in his head as well as his feet. She pushes him down onto a convenient piece of rubble and tells him to not move until she brings a recovery mage to check him over.

He decides to move once she walks away, because the rubble is uncomfortable and the place is a mess. He does not fancy getting caught up with more recovery mages and he feels mostly fine. The dizziness is to be expected after reawakening the first Wizard King after all.

He wants to check out the rest of the squad. He had seen Charmy stuffing Gauche, Grey and Gordon with more food than a village needs in a year. He feels that eating at the moment is not a great idea with the lingering nausea, so he decides to find the rest of the squad and lend a hand with the recovery efforts. 

And that is how Finral ends up on Owen’s radar. One of the Azure Deer spots him and asks for help transporting the injured to the infirmary. Soon he’s sending a steady stream to the triage area. He has just sent a mother and child through when Owen’s head pokes out the still open portal. If the portal had not been three storeys up on a precarious building, Owen could have stepped out and grabbed him.

“Finral!” the Recovery Mage shouts. “I knew those were your portals. What the hell do you think you are doing?”

“Me, Sir?” he manages. He stumbles backwards and this time he does end up on the ground. There is a lot of debris, so tells himself he tripped and it’s nothing to do with the way the world seems to be spinning around his head. He does manage to keep the portal open, so perhaps that is something.

“You should be back in the infirmary. Don’t think I don’t know what you’ve been up to.”

Finral wonders if this includes waking the first Wizard King. That is never going to get old. 

Turns out, Owen is not talking about that. He is talking about escaping from two sets of recovery mages. “I’m going to come and find you. Don’t go anywhere.”

Finral is sitting on his ass. He is not sure he wants to go anywhere now that his legs have decided to let him down. He puts his head back and finds that perhaps the rubble is more comfortable than he thought it was. He’s closed the portal without noticing.

“Hey, Finral. What’re you doing?”

Oh, yeah. He was going to see if he could find the rest of the squad when he got distracted by portal-duty. Now they’ve found him. His vision is a bit blurred, but he can see enough to recognise Magna and Luck. He rubs his hand over his eyes and that helps a little. Luck is grinning, of course. But there is a flicker of concern in his eyes that is the equivalent of Magna’s worried frown.

Magna looks more beat up than Finral feels. There’s the telltale lightning shaped damage on his hands and his face is bruised and burned. Finral squints, because his vision really is not it’s best at the moment, but he thinks he sees fine lichtenberg figures around the hand shaped bruises on Magna’s neck. What the hell happened? Finral pulls himself up to stand to get a proper look at his two junior squad members.

Standing was a mistake. Magna and Luck have to grab an arm each to stop him pitching forward into them. His legs have decided on their own account that he should stay on the ground.

“Magna,” Finral says. Slurs maybe. “What happ’ned? You all right?”

He thinks he sees them glance at each other, then Magna is helping him down to the ground. His hands are warm. “Don’t you think you should just sit down for a minute?”

Finral considers this. He has to think about it hard, and comes to the conclusion that the kids are okay. He has forgotten what the question was. He pats Luck on the head and might try to tell that. 

Luck says, “Is that blood on your uniform?”

Probably, Finral thinks, but does not answer aloud because now he’s lying on the ground with his head on Magna’s lap. Magna has his hand on his shoulder and it’s warm and heavy. 

Magna says, “Luck, go and find Vanessa or Charmy. Tell them we found him and we might need a bit of help.”

Finral might have to admit that he’s not accessing the full grimoire at the moment, but even he can see that Luck is reluctant to leave them. Leave Magna, he thinks. That makes sense because Magna is a mess. Perhaps, Finral will acknowledge, not actually more of a mess than he is, because there is no getting away from the fact that it’s Finral’s head on Magna’s lap and not the other way round. “‘S okay,” Finral tries to say, “Ow’ns comin’”

Luck crows. “Owen is so mad at you.”

Magna says to Luck, “You understood that?”

“H’ loves me,” Finral argues. Because Owen does. 

“He doesn’t love you at the moment,” Luck says.

“I have no idea how you know what he’s saying,” Magna says. “Go and find Owen or Vanessa or whoever else is looking for this idiot and get them to come here.”

“Hey, ‘m your s’perior,” Finral says. He has to concentrate way too hard to form the sounds. 

“Right now you aren’t,” Magna says, so that must have been understandable.

Luck is going, but he squeezes Magna’s hand and sparks crackle. Finral thinks that is interesting, but cannot think why. 

Once Luck’s gone, Finral manages to ask again, “Wha’ happ’ned.” He raises a hand that feels heavy and clumsy to point to the bruising around Magna’s neck. 

“You really aren’t going to leave that are you?” Magna says and sounds both exasperated and fond. “What happened to you?” He points to the blood stained uniform.

Not fair, Finral thinks. He asked first. 

Magna takes pity on him. Maybe it’s because if Finral were to answer at the moment he can guarantee that no one is going to understand him. “Luck was,” Magna starts. “He was… Something else was inside him. And he.” Magna touches the bruising and the lightning marks around his neck. “He was. But he isn’t anymore.”

Finral pats Magna’s hand. It’s all the comfort he can muster at the moment, but he understands. He can feel that mana coming off Langris in waves. He can see the moment that his brother fires twin shots to take him down. He manages to mumble, “M’ br’ther,” and he can feel Magna’s hand tighten on his so he thinks he must understand too.

Perhaps lying down was a mistake, because he feels tiredness wash over him. Magna is warm. Just a short nap then he’ll be ready to go again. Magna tells him to wake up. But it is way beyond Finral’s control now. He lets himself get swallowed up by the darkness. It’s a good thing that Owen loves him. 

\--

There are voices talking around him. The words are muddled so he is not sure who is saying what, only that he would really like to go back to sleep again. He can still feel Magna’s warm hand on his shoulder.

“He just passed out,” Magna says. He sounds worried. He was hurt. Is Luck back? Luck will look after Magna.

“I’m not surprised.” Owen maybe? When did Owen get here?

Cool hands are touching Finral’s skin, his wrist and his face. He pulls away from them because, cold.

“Oh, hi. Back with us,” Owen says. 

“M’be,” Finral says. He forces his eyes open, then has to blink again against the light. He can see Owen because he’s right there and fills up most of the world. Finral tries to pull back, but Magna’s warm hand is still there.

“When was the last time you had something to eat or drink, Finral,” Owen says. It’s his kind, patient doctor voice. Finral knows he’s in trouble when he hears that voice. Because Owen may love him, but he can be as scary as Yami. 

Finral concentrates as hard as he can to find the answer. It makes his head hurt. He remembers having something during the Royal Knight selection and that must have been days ago. Weeks maybe. He is not sure on the timings, so he will have to get someone to clear that up later. Then everything else happened so fast it isn’t as if there has been a chance to grab a snack. 

Perhaps the time it takes is all the answer that Owen needs. “He’s dehydrated and underweight,” he says to someone else. “His blood chemistry is all over the place because he was unconscious for days, but rather than give his body a chance to recover, he went out and fought in a major battle. And got hurt again. We don’t let our patients just go straight back onto the battlefield after an injury like that. It ends up like this.”

“I should have sent you to Charmy,” Vanessa says. Finral has not even seen her standing over him. He is in so much trouble.

But even the mention of Charmy makes a wave of nausea wash over him, bringing the dizziness back even though he’s still lying on the ground. He has to close his eyes.

“Come on,” Owen says. “Infirmary with you.”

Finral cannot help the sigh. 

Then Owen says to someone else, “And you too lad. You need those burns looking at, or they’re going to scar.”

It’s Magna who protests now. Good, Finral thinks. Those burns are nasty. 

Owen is organising something, but it washes over Finral for the moment. He’s thinking about Luck. If Luck made those burns, is he okay? He sees the boy beside Vanessa and he’s quieter than usual. Vanessa is holding his hand. Then Owen is back in Finral’s face again. He’s speaking. “Can you manage or do you need a stretcher?”

Finral thinks he might have heard him ask that question already. “I c’n manage,” he says

Magna snorts, but he helps Finral upright. Even sitting makes the world vibrate and the darkness creep in at the edges. The buzzing in his ears is so loud that whatever Owen says is drowned out. But Magna says, “I can manage. I’ll carry him if I have to. It’s not like he actually weighs anything at the moment.”

Owen says something else, then there is a familiar crackle of static as Luck comes near. Luck’s worried, Finral thinks. He never discharges that much power unless he’s worried. Or about to fight you, and at the moment even Luck can’t be planning on challenging him to a deathmatch. 

Magna says “Come on, Mr ‘I’m your superior’,” and lifts Finral to his feet. 

Oh crap. The world lurches and Finral would be on the ground again if it was not for Magna and Luck holding him up. His knees have forgotten how to stay locked. If the problem is just that he hasn’t had anything to drink for days, why has his whole body decided to abandon him? He can’t see and he feels his breath catch as he tries to get in enough air so that he can get… get wherever he’s supposed to be going. Magna is saying something, but Finral only knows from the vibrations through his skin. The words are lost. 

The world has contracted to no space at all. Just darkness, roaring and a sick spinning. But he can feel Magna and Luck beside him. Magna’s warm and Luck’s static crackles.

Maybe they move. Maybe they don’t. Finral is not sure. It is not far to the infirmary, but the transition from being pulled to his feet to being dropped onto a bed feels like no time at all. He probably blacked out again, he thinks. Which means that Magna and Luck did carry him here. If he had enough brain capacity left he’d find that embarrassing. Magna’s hurt after all, and Luck is worrying about his friend.

The bed is soft but he starts to shiver. The removal of Magna’s heat is a bigger loss than he thought it could be and he grasps for the hand that is tucking him under blankets. “Cold,” he manages to whisper, but he’s shivering and thinks that Magna has guessed already. He lets him hold his hand.

Now that Finral’s lying down, some of the noises of the world drift back into reality. He can hear infirmary sounds, footsteps, someone crying, someone else giving orders, but they are all background. But when Magna says to Luck, “Go tell Aralt that we’re here,” the voice is as clear as it should be. 

He can feel Luck move away too. The static electricity drops. Magna’s still there though, and somehow that feels sad. 

“Finral. You with me? Are you crying?” Magna asks.

Finral opens his eyes. When had he closed them? Magna is perched on the edge of the bed, close enough that Finral can tuck himself around the heat of his hand. “Luck, h’rt you.”

Magna sighs. “An elf hurt me. It wasn’t Luck. Just like it wasn’t your brother.”

Finral is not too sure about that. He thinks that Langris might have wanted to hurt him sometimes. But not there at the end. 

Magna is looking uncomfortable. “Look, you think you can manage a bit of water? Owen says you have to have something or he’s putting you ‘back in with Aralt and his team’. He says you know what that means.”

Finral does know what it means. It means he’s going to try to drink something even if he dies first. “Ar’lt doesn’t l’ve me.”

Magna, the bastard, smiles. 

Getting upright to drink is just as hard as Finral’s body knew it was going to be. In the end Magna just climbs on the bed and manhandles him until he’s lying against his chest. It’s exhausting. Finral feels like he’s just held a portal for an hour to Hage.

“Don’t sleep yet,” Magna says and puts a water bottle against Finral’s lips. 

Finral wants to sleep, and isn’t sure he’s going to be able to hold it off for long. Magna is warm and the shivering lessens even just with this positioning. But the threat of Aralt and the nurses is playing in his head. He takes a small sip of the water.

It’s almost as if his body realises what it’s been missing with just those few drops. He had been too tired to be thirsty, too busy during the battle, and asleep before that. He takes another sip, then tries to get his hands around the bottle to tip it faster. 

Magna takes it away and says, “Slow down.”

But now that Finral’s body remembers what water is, it knows it needs it now. The sensible parts of his brain that was making portals an hour ago has been swallowed up by the urgent need to get that bottle back from Magna’s hands and finish it. But Magna is firm. “Finral,” he says. “You’re going to be sick if you take it too fast.”

The threat works. He really is too tired to be sick. He leans back into the warmth and lets Magna bring the water back. He tries to take only small sips, but it’s hard and takes so much restraint that he’s trembling by the time Magna tells him enough. Luck has returned by now, although Finral’s fading fast and hadn’t noticed. 

“Aralt says you’ve got to eat these,” Luck says. He hands over a couple of thin biscuits.

Finral is tired. Magna still hasn’t seen someone about those burns. Luck has that cautious look in his eyes again. And he is not hungry. The nausea is back. He feels like Luck has just told him to eat one of Charmy’s three course meals on his own. He closes his eyes and feels tears leak out the sides.

Yami would yell at him. Vanessa maybe would too. Charmy would look bamboozled at the idea of not wanting to eat. Asta and Noelle would be disappointed and Luck just seems out of his depth.

But Magna gathers him into his arms and just holds him tight as the tears come. Magna has always given the best hugs. There is the crackle of static on his shoulder and somehow Magna has pulled Luck in too. Perhaps all the tears aren’t Finral’s by the end. 

Who knows how long it lasts, but now he’s so tired that he can’t put two thoughts together. Magna brings him the water bottle again, but only lets him drink a little before putting it away. “If you can eat one of those, then great. But you don’t have to try if you’re too tired.”

Finral doesn’t want to disappoint Magna. Where on earth did that come from? He should remind Magna that he’s his superior, but the words aren’t there. Okay. Push past the limits, that’s what Yami says. Finral reaches out to take one of the biscuits. He's shaking so badly that he misses the first time, but Magna steadies his hand and puts the biscuit in. 

Funny how things work out, but this is the hardest thing Finral has done today And that has included fighting evil elves, and awakening the first Wizard King. He takes one dry bite and nearly retches all the water back up again. He can feel his whole body stiffen and his breathing speed up. He does not want to be sick here. If he can get out and away and...

Luck says, “Finral.” His hand on his shoulder causes sparks. It brings him back into the room again in a way that only Yami’s yelling usually does. Who knew that could work. 

He manages two more bites before he knows he can’t take any more. He turns his face back into Magna, who hugs him again. He curls up in the safety of his teammate’s hold and just breathes.

The tiredness is overwhelming him. He just wants to sleep for a bit. 

But before he does, he reaches his hand out to the injuries on Magna’s neck and says, “You need to see about those burns.” The words sound like real words.

Magna snorts, but doesn’t argue. He might glance at Luck, but it’s hard for Finral to tell because now at last they are letting him sleep.

But before he does, he hears Vanessa’s voice. He didn’t even know she was there. She says, “Good job, delinquent.” Finral might have thought he was dreaming, but he can smell her scent of mint and newly opened red wine.

\--

Finral wakes up and the room is in shadow.

He is warm, cocooned in blankets in one of the side rooms off the clinical areas of the infirmary. There are noises from the other parts of the building, footsteps and quiet conversations. But this room is silent.

No. Wait a minute. It is quiet now, but it was a noise that woke him.

He sits up and is pleased to note that the dizziness is better. He takes a few mouthfuls from the water bottle beside the bed. It tastes odd, but not unpleasant. It’s one of Owen’s concoctions. It has a card balanced on it that says “drink me”. He ignores the plate of biscuits even if their card says, “eat me - or Owen will be after you” in Vanessa’s handwriting.

There is a small lamp on the table beside the door. By its light Finral can see that there is only one other bed in the room. It’s occupied by two of his sleeping teammates. Luck is tucked against Magna’s back like a limpet on a rock. 

Luck usually sleeps more like a starfish, on top of the blankets with twenty elbows and thirty knees. He is restless and can’t help the slight static discharge as he sleeps. He seeks out the nearest source of warmth and either shocks it or attacks it with an elbow. Finral’s had the bruises. Magna sleeps deep, but can’t abide even the accidental contact. They’ve shared enough mission camp-outs that the rest of the Bulls know that the best way to get a decent night’s sleep is to put at least two people between Luck and Magna.

Finral has never seen Luck so small and still in sleep. And Magna is letting him cuddle close.

Magna has bandages around the burns on his hands and neck and Finral lets out a sigh of relief. At least he had them treated. 

Without thinking, he takes one of the plain biscuits and manages a nibble before he realises what he’s doing. It’s dry and tasteless, but it doesn’t make him retch like it did earlier. Let’s call that progress.

He’s beginning to think he imagined the noise that woke him. The lure of the blankets and the warmth of the bed is enticing. He’s taken another mouthful of water and half a bite of biscuit when he hears it again.

It’s Magna and he’s whimpering. 

Finral has never heard that noise from Magna before. It's like the noise of an injured animal, or the sound that Grey makes when she’s terrified. Or the sound that Noelle makes when she is dreaming about…

Oh, Finral thinks. Well, that makes sense.

The dizziness might be gone, but his legs are still wobbly as he steps over to the other bed. The floor is cold and he wonders if he should find his shoes, but then Magna whimpers again and that’s it decided. He can’t leave his teammate in distress.

Finral knows those dreams.

“Hey, Magna.” He puts a hand on Magna’s shoulder and gives a gentle shake. He’s trembling in his sleep. 

It doesn’t work the first time, the same as it never does for Noelle. And he guesses he never wakes the first time either.

He speaks louder and gives a harder shake. He doesn’t want to wake Luck though so he tries to keep the volume down.

This time Magna’s eyes snap open and he stares at Finral without seeing anything.

“Magna. It’s Finral. It’s okay. They aren’t real. You’re okay.”

Magna manages a gasping breath. He’s terrified. Finral finds his hand and grips it tight. 

“It’s just a nightmare,” Finral says. But he knows that is not quite the truth. “It’s not real.” Also, not quite true.

Magna’s breathing is too short and shallow. He’s panicking. 

“Magna. It’s not real. You need to slow down or you’ll wake Luck up.”

Something complicated passes across Magna’s face. If Finral needed any confirmation of what kind of dreams these were, that was it. 

Luck is still sleeping, but he has either responded to Finral’s voice or the tightness in Magna’s body and tries to pull himself closer to his companion. Finral can feel the static from here and there are a couple of small flickers of lightning between Luck’s fingers where he is gripping Magna’s arm.

“See,” Finral says, “He’s right there. You’re here. It’s all okay.”

“But he… I…” Magna whispers. His breathing has slowed a little and tears are leaking from his eyes. “He was gonna… He did...”

“Yeah. I know. It’s okay though. It didn’t happen. He’s right here and trying to climb into your skin if he can.”

“But…”

Finral sighs and runs his free hand through his hair. “It’s the damn cat.”

That throws Magna for a moment. He frowns and for the first time since he woke up, his focus is right there and fixed on Finral. “Is this like the first Wizard King thing?”

“Hey, that was real,” Finral says loud enough to disturb Luck for a moment. Once he has stopped moving again, Finral continues. “Nero will tell you.”

“Nero the bird?” Magna smirks. It’s half-hearted and he’s still pale and breathing too fast, but this is better. Finral decides to remember this technique for the future. Just pretend to be having hallucinations to bring your friends from a crisis.

“Yes. No. Hold on. This isn’t about me. It’s about the cat.” He pauses, then says. “You want to talk about it? It helps.”

“Not sure anything is going to make it better.”

“Yeah, I get that, it’s just that it always helped Noelle get back to sleep once we started talking about it, and well when…”

“What’s it got to do with Noelle?”

“The cat dreams?” Even calling them by the name that she has given them makes Finral shiver and tuck his free arm around his chest. He can feel them on the corner of his memory. He can smell the blood and the sound of a sword swinging through the air.

When he is back in the room, Magna is saying, “Finral. You’ve gone really pale. Are you going to pass out again?” He is trying to shift Luck off his back to get out of bed.

Finral swallows and says, “It’s okay. Just give me a second. I haven’t had one in ages. Yeah, I’m okay.” He’s still shivering though.

Magna looks unconvinced. “You’re not. Go back to bed, idiot.” When Finral starts to object, Magna says, “Lie down, then talk.”

Under his watchful eye, Finral stands up and staggers back to his bed. He takes a mouthful from the water bottle first, because he’s sure that he’ll be told to if he doesn’t. His mouth is dry anyway. The cocoon of blankets still holds a little of his heat so when he pulls them up he stops shivering again. He’s getting a headache.

Magna’s eyes are reflecting in the candle light. He says, “You said talking helps. So talk.”

“Okay, well Noelle calls them the cat dreams. I had to ask Vanessa how it works, but Rouge alters fate, yeah? That’s how it protects us. But it doesn’t erase it, just changes it. The original fate still lingers around the edges. Noelle thinks that’s what those dreams are, the memory of things that didn’t happen. They don’t feel like normal dreams. They feel,” he hesitates before saying it, and tightens his own grip around his chest. “They feel real, don’t they?”

Magna’s expression is hard to interpret, but he nods. 

“The witch made Asta attack us in the forest. First Noelle, then me. I was kinda out of it. Well, a whole lot out of it, and I can only remember fragments of what did happen. But then I was having these dreams of being cut in half by Asta’s sword. Or seeing Noelle…” 

He has never said any of this to anyone but Noelle. He’d been vague when he had asked Vanessa because he doesn’t want her to think that they are ungrateful for Rouge saving their lives. A few nasty dreams are better than being dead. But he’d underestimated just how hard it would be to say these things to another person. 

He starts again. “Seeing Noelle’s head cut off or bleeding out on the ground. Everyone standing around our bodies and Asta screaming.” He remembers the sound of those screams. He doesn’t think that humans should be able to make that sound. He has to concentrate to not get lost in it again. “I tried not sleeping, but that only made it worse. When I was too tired I couldn’t wake up again. Then I found Noelle in the common room one night. She tried to tell me to go to sleep, I tried to do the same to her, without either of us realising why we weren’t. We had a fight. She might have tried to drown me, and I sent her onto the roof. We were not stable by that point.” 

‘Not stable’ is an understatement. Finral remembers feeling so on edge that he couldn’t sit still. Everything had a jittery quality and there might have been real hallucinations that he hasn’t admitted even to Noelle.

“What about Asta?” Magna asks. 

Finral shrugs. “You’ve seen him sleep. I don’t think it’s ever bothered him. Maybe it’s his lack of magic, or the witch’s spell protected him, or it is only the person that Rouge saves and not the person attacking that gets the dreams. Or, to quote Noelle, Asta is ‘really just that kind of idiot’. But it's Vanessa too. You’d think she’d be worse than anyone, but maybe the cat protects her?”

“So what happened with you and Noelle?”

“It wasn’t anything special. We sat on the roof for a while and she decided not to kill me. One of us confessed first, I can’t remember who.” He can remember. It was him. He’d still be waiting for Noelle even now if he hadn’t blurted out ‘I can’t sleep because of the dreams’. “And we made an arrangement. Neither of us would sleep without the other one being on watch, to wake us up if the dreams started. I think Noelle’s were worse than mine. I had to wake her up seven or eight times a night, and it was hard sometimes. It never works the first time. 

“Then, gradually they sort of faded away. Once I woke up and she had fallen asleep and neither of us had dreamt them. Although it was scary the first night we weren’t in the same room.”

“You shared a bedroom?”

Finral blushes, but he’s sure that Magna can’t see that in the darkness. “Normally her room. I’d portal in as soon as she went to bed. It worked. If one of us was on a mission, I’d just portal to wherever she was if I could. If not, well, neither of us slept very well.”

“I can’t believe you never said anything.”

“It felt kind of silly. Neither of us wanted Vanessa or Asta to feel bad, you know. And if you don’t understand, they just sound like nightmares.”

Magna chews on his lip. He understands they are not just nightmares. “So when did you stop?”

“Sometimes we haven’t. I mean, I haven’t had one for ages, but Noelle still sometimes gets them. If she thinks it’s going to be a bad night she asks me to...” He freezes. He’s been in the hospital for who knows how long. What has Noelle done if it’s going to be a bad night. He hadn’t checked. He doesn’t even know where she is at the moment. Oh, hell.

“You need to breathe Finral. She was sleeping fine as far I can tell. At least she never threatened to drown us more than usual.”

Magna is right. Finral takes a proper breath. Don’t panic. There have been other things to worry about. Noelle is fine. 

In the midst of his panic, he misses the start of Magna’s quiet confession. Finral tunes back in at “...and Luck keeps coming back in for another attack. He missed. I know he did. I remember that he did. They would have killed me each time. And he was laughing. No. He wasn’t. The elf was laughing. But just now, I could feel them, you understand. All that electricity and the smell of lightning and the laughing. And it hurt. Really hurt. I don’t want it to happen again.”

Magna’s eyes are gazing far away and there are fresh tears on his face. Finral wants to gather him into a hug, but he’s not sure that he’s going to be able to get across the room again without falling. Exhaustion is tugging on the edges of his awareness. 

Despite this he says, “I’ll watch and wake you if it happens again.”

“You can’t do that.”

“Sure I can. You’ve got to heal up from those burns and you need to sleep. I’ll keep watch. If I can’t stay awake, I’ll wake you up and tell you.”

“Finral, you’re hardly awake now.”

“Sure I am.” Of course, he has to yawn. “But for this I’ll be awake Magna. I was sleeping for ages according to Yami.”

“You nearly died.”

“I told him that too. Look, go to sleep Magna. I’ll watch, I promise.”

Magna looks like he wants to believe him. He seems just as tired as Finral feels, and healing up those bruises takes energy that can’t be replaced just with Charmy’s dinners. 

Then, another voice says, “Hey, guys. I could do it.”

Luck. 

Magna scrambles around in the bed to face him. Finral says, “I thought you were sleeping.” at the same time as Magna says, “Why you... you... how long have you been awake?”

Luck is unapologetic. “I’ve been awake for ages. You are both loud.”

Neither Finral or Magna have an answer to that. He’s right. 

“So. I’m awake now.” He wraps Magna in his arms and holds him tight. “And I can keep watch Magna.”

The tension leaks out of Magna as he melts into Luck’s arms. There are silent sobs and Luck pats him on the back with small static shocks each time. “I’m sorry,” he says.

Magna’s voice is muffled with tears, but he says, “Idiot. You didn’t do anything. You know you’d never have beaten me if there wasn’t an elf inside you.”

“Yeah,” Luck says. For once he doesn’t rise to the challenge. 

It doesn’t take long for the sobs to quieten and Magna’s breathing to relax into sleep. Finral is struggling to keep awake when Luck whispers, “You should go to sleep too Finral. You look tired.”

Luck can’t see Finral from where he’s tucked himself back around Magna, but Finral is too tired to argue. He lets his eyes close and sleep takes him.

And Luck stays awake and keeps watch for them both.

_Coda_

Luck wakes Magna twice that night. Finral sleeps all the way to morning. 

Vanessa keeps watch the next night because Luck has no filter. He claims he didn’t know it was supposed to be a secret, but everyone knows it’s because he has more emotional intelligence than the rest of them put together.


End file.
